Bezos expedition workers recover the thrust chamber of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Bezos expedition workers recover the thrust chamber of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Photo: Bezos Expeditions

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Bezos expedition workers recover the Gas Generator and Manifold of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Bezos expedition workers recover the Gas Generator and Manifold of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Photo: Bezos Expeditions

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Bezos expedition workers recover the injector and LOX dome of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Bezos expedition workers recover the injector and LOX dome of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Photo: Bezos Expeditions

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Bezos expedition workers recover the nozzle had band of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Bezos expedition workers recover the nozzle had band of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Photo: Josh Bernstein, Bezos Expeditions

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Bezos expedition workers recover the heat exchanger of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Bezos expedition workers recover the heat exchanger of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Photo: Bezos Expeditions

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Bezos expedition workers recover the turbine of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Bezos expedition workers recover the turbine of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Photo: Bezos Expeditions

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Bezos expedition workers recover the thrust chamber and fuel manifold of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Bezos expedition workers recover the thrust chamber and fuel manifold of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket.

Photo: Josh Bernstein, Bezos Expeditions

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The thrust chamber of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket is pictured on the seabed.

The thrust chamber of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket is pictured on the seabed.

Photo: Bezos Expeditions

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The nozzle of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket is pictured on the seabed.

The nozzle of an F-1 engine from a Saturn V rocket is pictured on the seabed.

Photo: Bezos Expeditions

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A Saturn V rocket stage structure is pictured on the seabed.

A Saturn V rocket stage structure is pictured on the seabed.

Photo: Bezos Expeditions

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The Saturn V first-stage booster is test fired at the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1965.

The Saturn V first-stage booster is test fired at the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1965.

Photo: NASA

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The Saturn V first-stage booster with all five F-1 engines is shown installed in a test stand at the at the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1965.

The Saturn V first-stage booster with all five F-1 engines is shown installed in a test stand at the at the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1965.

Photo: NASA

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The Saturn V first-stage booster with all five F-1 engines is lifted into the dynamic test stand at the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1966. The stand tested the integrity of the vehicle by applying forces to simulate the engines thrusting and feeding in other flight factors to test reactions.

The Saturn V first-stage booster with all five F-1 engines is lifted into the dynamic test stand at the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1966. The stand tested the integrity of the vehicle by applying forces to

Liftoff of Apollo 11, from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969.

Liftoff of Apollo 11, from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969.

Photo: UNKNOWN, NASA

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Liftoff of Apollo 11, from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969.

Liftoff of Apollo 11, from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969.

Photo: NASA

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Undated picture of a Saturn V rocket before launch.

Undated picture of a Saturn V rocket before launch.

Photo: NASA

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Jeff Bezos recovers Apollo rocket engines

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Jeff Bezos and his team have recovered engines that launched Apollo rockets to the moon, the Amazon founder reported Wednesday. He's hoping to assemble two engines and display on in Seattle.

"What an incredible adventure. We are right now onboard the Seabed Worker headed back to Cape Canaveral after finishing three weeks at sea, working almost 3 miles below the surface, Bezos wrote on the project website. "We found so much."

Remotely operated vehicles lifted the F-1 engine components from the ocean floor, Bezos wrote. He had hoped to recover the engines from the Apollo 11 mission, which was the first to land people on the moon.

"Many of the original serial numbers are missing or partially missing, which is going to make mission identification difficult," Bezos wrote Wednesday. "We might see more during restoration."

The Saturn V rocket that lifted the Apollo astronauts used five F-1 rocket engines, each of which was 19 feet long and 12 feet, 4 inches wide and produced 1.5 million pounds of thrust using liquid oxygen and kerosene. They plunged into the ocean as planned a few minutes after launch.

"We're bringing home enough major components to fashion displays of two flown F-1 engines," Bezos wrote. "The upcoming restoration will stabilize the hardware and prevent further corrosion. We want the hardware to tell its true story, including its 5,000 mile per hour re-entry and subsequent impact with the ocean surface. We're excited to get this hardware on display where just maybe it will inspire something amazing."

The engines remain the property of NASA. Bezos previously wrote that he expects the space agency would want to make an engine available to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

But, he added: "If we're able to raise more than one engine, I've asked NASA if they would consider making it available to the excellent Museum of Flight here in Seattle."

In a statement, NASA Administrator Charles Boldin said: "This is a historic find and I congratulate the team for its determination and perseverance in the recovery of these important artifacts of our first efforts to send humans beyond Earth orbit.

"We look forward to the restoration of these engines by the Bezos team and applaud Jeff's desire to make these historic artifacts available for public display."

Click through the gallery above to see pictures of the recovery, followed by Apollo program-era images of the engines, Saturn V rocket and Apollo 11 mission.